Chapter Six #2
Our bikes are still lined up in the driveway with the rest of them, polished and posed the way they’ve been all night for the sponsors, gleaming under rented lights and camera flashes that have mostly died down now that the party’s tipped into something looser.
I head straight for mine with Echo and Thorne beside me, the humid night pressing warm against my skin.
Then I reach for my helmet where it’s hooked over the handlebar and turn to her.
It’s a black Shoei, glossy under the light, green demon flames curling up the sides.
Echo takes it from my hands, turning it over once before glancing up at me. “You’re seriously making me wear yours?”
“Yeah.”
Her fingers trace one of the green flames. “What about you?”
“I’ll survive.”
Thorne laughs, already swinging a leg over his bike. “Look at him. Proper gentleman. Bit nauseating, really.”
I shoot him a look. “You done?”
“Not even slightly.”
Echo laughs under her breath and starts to lift the helmet, but I take it gently from her hands before she can.
“Hold still.”
Her eyes flick to mine, but she does.
I slide the helmet down over her head, careful with her hair, fingers brushing the warm line of her jaw while I fix the strap beneath her chin.
It’s a small thing, yet still manages to pull the air tight between us anyway.
She looks up at me through the open visor, quiet for once, and for a second I’m a little too aware of how fucking close she is.
“There,” I say, voice low. “Good?”
She nods once. “Good.”
I step back and swing a leg over the bike. “You ever ridden a motorcycle before?”
“A few times.”
“Then you know the deal. Hold on when I tell you to.”
That smile of hers comes back straight away. “So bossy.”
“Safety-minded.”
“Sure. That’s why you’re not wearing a helmet.”
I look back at her. “Yeah. Because you’re the one I’m making sure gets home in one piece.”
Through the visor, her eyes lift to mine again, and for a second all that sharp, teasing energy in them eases into something quieter. She doesn’t say anything, just holds my gaze long enough to make my chest pull tight before the corner of her mouth curves.
“Thorne fires up his bike beside us, engine rumbling low. ‘You two done making eyes, yeah, or are we just gonna sit here like a pair of melts in the driveway?’”
Echo climbs on behind me, and the second she settles, I feel the heat of her through my shirt, her hands landing light at first on my sides.
I reach back, catch one of her wrists, and guide both her arms around my waist.
“Like that,” I tell her. “And make sure you hold on tight,”
Her grip tightens.
Yep. Fuck, that feels entirely too good.
Thorne clocks it, obviously, because he just laughs and shakes his head under his helmet. “Right. Let’s move, yeah?”
I glance back once. “You good?”
Echo’s helmet tilts in a nod against my shoulder. “Yeah, I’m good. Drive, cowboy.”
I grin despite myself, kick the bike to life, and pull out of the driveway with her wrapped around me and Thorne riding beside us into the thick Tampa night.
*****
I pull into the Motel parking lot, and kill the engine, and Echo catches the look on my face before she’s even fully off the bike.
“Don’t,” she says, lifting the visor.
I glance over at her. “Don’t what?”
“Look at it like you hate the idea of leaving me here.”
Thorne laughs as he parks beside us and swings off his bike. “That is exactly the look, actually.”
I glance up at the motel again, then back at her. “Well, can you blame me? Place is a dump.”
Echo snorts, pushing hair back off her face. “It’s fine.”
“It’s barely standing,” I mutter.
“That feels dramatic.”
“Does it?”
Her mouth twitches like she’s trying not to smile. “Yeah, actually. A little.”
I pull my bike key free and unclip the helmet from her head, setting it on my seat. “Still don’t like it.”
She studies me for a second, something amused and softer flickering through her expression, then shrugs one shoulder. “Well, good news. I wasn’t expecting the full Demon bodyguard package. You already got me home. You don’t have to do the whole dramatic escort-me-upstairs thing too.”
Thorne laughs, “Might as well commit to the bit now.”
Echo turns slowly toward him, grin sharpening like she’s been handed exactly the opening she wanted. “Oh, commit to the bit?”
Thorne lifts a brow, easy as anything. “That’s what I said ain’t it?”
She steps backward toward the walkway, eyes flicking between us. “All right then. If you’re both so committed, come make sure my room’s safe.”
I fold my arms, already half laughing. “Safe from what exactly?”
Echo keeps backing up, smile wicked. “Murderers. Creeps. Monsters under the bed. Something lurking in the wardrobe. I don’t know, Wolfe, you’re the one acting like this place rents rooms to serial killers by the hour.”
Thorne barks out a laugh.
I do too, because Christ.
She points at us both. “Well, come on boys. You wanted to play escort service, you don’t get to half-ass it in the parking lot.”
Thorne looks at me, grin crooked and entirely too pleased with himself. “She’s got a point, mate.”
I shake my head, still smiling, but I’m already pushing off the bike.
Echo glances back when she hears us following, not surprised in the slightest.
Of course she isn’t.